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Kabul police building attacked

Suicide bombers and gunmen have attacked the headquarters of the Kabul traffic police, leading to a battle between militants and security forces that lasted more than eight hours.

It's the second coordinated attack on a government building in the Afghan capital in less than a week.

Deputy Interior Minister General Abdul Rahman said three police officers were killed and four wounded in the raid.

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the assault.

Three of the five attackers were killed early on, while two others wearing suicide vests holed up in the five-floor building and fired on security forces. They, too, were later killed.

"It's over. The last two terrorists are dead and they were not even given the chance to detonate their suicide vests," Kabul police chief General Mohammad Ayoub Salangi told AFP.

Increasing violenceViolence across the country has been increasing over the past year, sparking concern about how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will be able to manage once foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

"It's very clear the more and more the Afghan security sources are getting into the lead, the more they are targeted by the insurgents," said Brigadier General Gunter Katz, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

He praised the role of the Afghan security forces in countering this attack.

Last week, a band of six suicide bombers attacked the National Directorate of Security (NDS), killing two of its guards. That attack followed a failed assassination attempt on NDS chief Asadullah Khalid.